Chinese word

突如其来

Pronunciation

Pinyintū rú qí lái

Meaning

  • idiomcome out of the blue

Example

会议中突如其来的停电让大家惊慌。huì yì zhōng tū rú qí lái de tíng diàn ràng dà jiā jīng huāng

The power outage that came out of the blue during the meeting made everyone panic.

Illustration for 突如其来 (come out of the blue)

More examples

战争中，村庄遭受了突如其来的袭击，居民仓皇逃散。zhàn zhēng zhōng cūn zhuāng zāo shòu le tū rú qí lái de xí jī jū mín cāng huáng táo sàn

During the war, the village was hit by an unexpected attack, and the residents fled in panic.

Core concept

A sudden arrival interrupts normal events and leaves no time for preparation.

Common phrases

  • 突如其来的袭击tū rú qí lái de xí jī

    an unexpected attack

  • 突如其来的消息tū rú qí lái de xiāo xī

    unexpected news

  • 突如其来的变化tū rú qí lái de biàn huà

    an unexpected change

Similar words

猝不及防cù bù jí fáng: Happening so suddenly that there is no time to prepare for it.
措手不及cuò shǒu bù jí: Leaving someone unable to respond or deal with a situation because there is no time to act.
出其不意chū qí bú yì: Taking place or being done when others do not expect it, often catching them by surprise.

Definition in Chinese

毫无预兆地突然发生，用来形容事件或变化的突发性。háo wú yù zhào dì tū rán fā shēng yòng lái xíng róng shì jiàn huò biàn huà de tū fā xìng

Word origin

突如其来 (tūrúqílái, "arrive suddenly") joins 突如 (tūrú, "suddenly") to 其来 (qílái, "its coming"), framing an unexpected change as an arrival that happens all at once.

Usage tips

  • English speakers may expect a word for a person who arrives, but this idiom commonly describes events, changes, and problems that appear without warning.

Opposites

Word lists with this word